Over 200 citizens flocked to Byculla zoo on Wednesday afternoon to attend a hearing conducted by the BMC and expressed their reservations against felling of more than 2,000 trees in Aarey to make way for a car shed for Metro. Adivasis living in more than 20 hamlets of Aarey also turned up in considerable numbers.

Last month, the BMC’s gardens department had invited objections from people over the proposal put forward by the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRC) to axe 2,702 trees of the total number of 3,691 at the site of the Metro project.

Activists hit out at Tree Authority members for clearing BMC proposal to axe 493 trees.

Till Wednesday, over 40,000 objections were received.

Out of the 2,702 trees to be felled, only 464 will be transplanted while the remaining 2,238 will be lost. However, for every tree felled, the MMRC has vowed to plant two trees elsewhere.

The hearing at Byculla zoo witnessed noisy scenes

“People braved the sweltering city to attend the hearing on a working day. They are not trying to oppose something, they are here to save Aarey and its green cover,” said Zoru Bhathena, a member of the Save Aarey Movement, a group that has been leading the fight against constructions at Aarey.

He said that the Tree Authority does not have any jurisdiction over felling of trees as it is primarily a body that is to look after the well-being of the green cover. “They need NOCs (no-objection certificate) from the forest and the wildlife departments as Aarey is a forest and is home to a few leopards,” Bhathena added.

The hearing witnessed noisy scenes as many accsued the MMRC of felling trees without any written permission. They claimed that the MMRC was trying to intimidate people by detaining them when they raised concerns. “The police detained men when I objected to cutting of trees and asked them to show me the requisite papers,” complained Manigopal Krishnan, a 64-year-old volunteer with the Aam Aadmi Party.

Asha Bhoye, 43, an Adivasi who has lived in Aarey for more than two decades, claimed that this “fight was for their future generations”.

Volunteers from MNS and AAP were in attendance too. “The permissions taken for felling trees are farcical; the courts are our only hope,” said Preeti Sharma Menon of AAP.